Epidemiology Of A Young Lung Cancer Patient

The epidemiology of young lung cancer study is a collaboration between the Addario Lung Cancer Medical Institute and GO2 Foundation. The main purpose of the study is to find out why those of us under 40 are being diagnosed with lung cancer. There is a lot of information about this topic out there, but I will give you my take on what I know because I am a participant in this study.

Two foundations join forces

The Bonnie J. Addario Lung Cancer Foundation (ALCF) and Lung Cancer Alliance (LCA) joined forces in 2019 to become the Go2 Foundation for Lung cancer. When I heard the news I was elated. I knew that with these two organizations joining together we were going to get things done.

How it started

It started with the Genomics of young lung cancer (GoYLC) study between 2014 and 2017. The focus was on those of us diagnosed under 40. The study was very insightful and found that 84% of participants had a targetable mutation. This is important to note that in the general lung cancer population that number is around half that number. The study found that most of us were diagnosed or already at stage IV and that the lung cancer type was adenocarcinoma. You can find more information on the results of the Genomics of young lung cancer here.

A breakdown of the epidemiology of lung cancer study

The study that I am writing about today is called “Epidemiology of lung cancer”. Epidemiology is the study, assessment, and analysis of public health concerns in a given population, the tracking of patterns and effects of diseases, environmental toxins, natural disasters, violence, terrorist attacks, etc. via dictionary.com

This study is also focused on those of us diagnosed under 40. Many of us diagnosed at this age have found we have a unique set of troubles that we encounter. Many of us are just starting out in our careers so health insurance can be an issue. We are newly married, dating, or thinking about marriage. Many of us are thinking about the future of our families, such as “will I have kids?”, and now am I going to be able to have kids?”

The study is aimed to find out common risk factors of lung cancer and can include things about where you grew up as a child, how many homes you have lived in, the types of jobs that you have held, environmental questions, and also what kinds of food you have eaten. This is by far is not a complete list of items that this study will go over. A questionnaire will be sent to you to fill out to get the information and then the data will be reviewed by the statisticians. Another thing that may be asked is if the mother of the patient would like to fill out a questionnaire. This will ask things about what happened while pregnant.

If this is you, take action!

If you were diagnosed with lung cancer under the age of 40 please visit this link to find out how you can participate in the study and the nurse will reach out to you with the qualifying questions.